Former Mass. school janitor pleads guilty to having child pornography

PORTLAND, Maine — A former school janitor Wednesday waived indictment and pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to possession of child pornography.

Joseph Finocchiaro, 61, of Bath is scheduled to be sentenced in May by U.S. District Judge Nancy Torresen.

Torresen on Wednesday ordered that he be held without bail. Before entering his guilty plea, Finocchiaro was free on $10,000 unsecured bail.

Finocchiaro told police when he was arrested in October that he was allowed to retire early from a Massachusetts school district after he printed images of young children from a computer owned by the town for which he worked, according to a court affidavit.

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The investigation that led to his arrest began in 2010 with the U.S. Postal Service’s investigation into International Company’s website, which was the subject of more than 20 complaints to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline regarding the sale of child pornography, according to court documents.

Finocchiaro purchased at least 16 DVDs on five different occasions from the firm, which is located outside the U.S., between November 2010 and April 2011, according to court documents. He paid more than $400 for the DVDs.

During the execution of a search warrant at Finocchiaro’s home in October, investigators found the DVDs from the International Company, the affidavit said.

Police also found printed images of naked and partially naked children ranging in age from toddlers to about 15 years of age, according to court documents. The pictures had been arranged in a collage.

“Finocchiaro stated he previously was employed as a janitor for a school department in Massachusetts,” the affidavit said. “According to Finocchiaro, he was allowed to retire early due to an issue concerning him printing images of young children — similar to the collection on his collage — from a computer owned by the town for which he worked.”

Court documents do not name where in Massachusetts Finocchiaro worked or lived.